This week marks Fair Tax Week 2025 – a nationwide celebration of the co-operatives, companies, and councils doing the right thing by paying their fair share and calling for an economy built on transparency and trust.

At a time when public services need renewal and investment, it’s vital to make sure the tax system works fairly for everyone. When big businesses avoid their obligations, it’s local communities who lose out. Tax avoidance means less investment in our NHS, education, social care, in high streets and on transport. Yet many co-operatives and businesses are leading the way in signing up to the Fair Tax Mark and paying what they owe. Many of the UK’s largest co-operative societies are Fair Tax complaint, including the Co-op Group, Midcounties Co-op, East of England Co-op, and Suma Co-operative. Fair Tax Week demonstrates their leadership, recognises their higher contribution than tax avoiding peers and calls for others to follow their ethical practices.

Labour & Co-op-led local councils has shown what’s possible in local government. Across the UK, councils have stepped up by signing the Councils for Fair Tax Declaration—committing to lead by example in tax conduct and to scrutinise who they do business within the supply chain. This means public procurement requirements on fair tax can be used to spread ethical business practices – supporting more inclusive local economies and businesses. It also means tax avoiding businesses no longer receive an unfair competitive advantage over businesses which do the right thing by paying their taxes. Labour & Co-op led councils in Wales, Scotland and England have all now signed up to the declaration, with 64 councils now Fair Tax Declaration signatories.

The public overwhelmingly supports stronger action on tax avoidance. Survation found 84% of the British public thought corporate tax avoidance was morally wrong, with 87% wanting Government to close corporate loopholes. Fair Tax Week provides a platform to turn that frustration into change and to demonstrate which businesses and councils are showing leadership. It reminds us why we must continue to campaign for greater tax transparency, global minimum tax rates and an end to loopholes which starve our public services of investment.

Fair Tax Week is about values and fairness. It’s about creating a more inclusive economy where all pay their fair share. In the UN Year of Co-operatives 2025, the co-operative movement once again show why the model is a better form of business – proud in its commitment to pay their fair share.